The non-equilibrium ro-vibrational distribution functions of molecules in a plasma can heavily influence the discharge operation and the plasma-chemistry. A convenient method for measuring the distribution function is coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS). CARS spectra are measured in a ns-pulsed plasma between two parallel, 1 mm spaced molybdenum electrodes in nitrogen at 200 mbar with pulse durations of 200 ns/250 ns and a repetition rate of 1 kHz. The CARS spectra are analyzed by a fitting routine to extract information about the vibrational excitation of the nitrogen molecules in the plasma. It is found that during the discharge the vibrational distribution for $v \lesssim 7$ can be described by a vibrational two-temperature distribution function. Additionally, the electric field is measured by the electric field induced second harmonic generation method during the discharge pulse. It is found to be constant in time after the initial ionization wave with values close to 81 Td for the investigated conditions. During the afterglow between two discharge pulses a more general fitting approach is used to obtain the population differences of two neighboring vibrational states. This allows to capture the more complex vibrational dynamics in that time period. The measurement results are discussed in more detail and compared to simple plasma models in a companion paper Kuhfeld et al (2021 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 54 305205).